Chapter One - A New Beginning

I started reading the book and out of curiosity I decided to see how long each chapter was. I realized then that this novel only consists of nine chapters, meaning they are really long chapters; something I am not used to. The length of the book is normal for me but I’m going to have to get used to turning 30 or so pages until seeing the next chapter.  I just finished the first chapter and I have never been so relieved to see the number ‘two’ in my whole life. I’m not implying that the book is not interesting. I’ve actually enjoyed reading it so far, but there is a time where a chapter just needs to end. I feel like there are ‘sub-chapters’ within each chapter. He doesn’t make it visually clear, but it is pretty obvious when you read it. By the end of the first chapter the main character, Kiam-Kim, is eight years old. He was only three when I started reading. 

At the beginning of the chapter there was a lot of information to absorb. I have a feeling it will be like this for the whole book, after all, each chapter is roughly 50 pages each. This is the sequel to Wayson Choy’s first novel, The Jade Peony. I have read and heard that to fully understand and transition to this novel I should read the first one before. When I first started reading, I was a little lost since he mentions characters as if I should know who they are already. Thankfully it wasn’t difficult to put pieces together as Choy’s vivid explanations and descriptions helped me a lot.

So far the main characters that have been introduced are Kiam-Kim, Father, Poh-Poh 

(grandmother), Third Uncle, and Stepmother. Other characters include Mr. Ben Chong, Mrs. Annah Chong and their daughter Jenny Chong, Mrs. Pan Wong, Jook-Liang, Jack O’Conner and his parents Mr. and Mrs. O’Conner.

The story is told through Kiam-Kim, who is the first and only son of Father and his First Wife. Kiam-Kim’s mother died from the ‘coughing illness’ when he was a baby. At the beginning of the first chapter, I found out that Kiam and his family were sent away from their small village to Hong Kong. From there they traveled to Vancouver, or as they call it, Gold Mountain, in response to their Third Uncle who sponsored them. He sponsored them because Kiam-Kim’s father is the closest family Third Uncle could think of. All his close family who lived in Vancouver with him died; so in order to keep on his legacy and investments he has built over the years he needed to have more family live with him and also work for him. 

The transition for the three was a little difficult at first. They lived in a tiny apartment that was constantly filled with noise from men workers and trains. The grandmother, Poh-Poh, seems to be more spiritual than the others. She tells Kiam-Kim that the noise he hears when a train goes by is actually grey dragons battling or playing. He badly wants to believe what his grandmother is telling him, but his father thinks it is all nonsense and is trying to make sure his son doesn’t believe what she is saying by reassuring him that the noises are just trains.

Soon after their arrival, Third Uncle proposed that he should sponsor a female helpmate for them, since he could afford it. Father and Poh-Poh loved this idea. Poh-Poh repeatedly said throughout the chapter that she will die soon and she wants to see three grandsons before then.  It is clear that Poh-Poh and the other elders are greatly respected.  Everyone tries to make sure what she wants or suggests happens so she is satisfied. Before the helpmate, Kiam-Kim’s Stepmother, arrived, they moved into a nicer, more spacious house, away from all the warehouses, which is what Poh-Poh wanted. 

Poh-Poh is also very traditional, so is the rest of the family, except Kiam-Kim. Since he was only three when they moved to Vancouver, he doesn’t know how life was really like in China. He starts talking to a white child who lives across the street from them. Poh-Poh always disapproves whenever he tells her about him. Throughout this chapter, the family tries to teach Kiam-Kim manners; not only general manners, but Chinese manners. His father reminds him, “Never forget, you are Chinese” (Choy 53).

Later, Kiam-Kim’s Stepmother arrives from China. The older women help her transition to her new lifestyle and settle in Gold Mountain. 

They try hard to maintain their Chinese culture, but they know some things have changed, sometimes for the better. When Stepmother has a baby girl instead of a boy, the family is still happy. There is no big celebration, but they still take care of her. For the first few months Stepmother clung onto her daughter, scared to let her go. This is because she knows that in China they would have taken her away, either sold to another family or killed. She relaxed when Poh-Poh assured her that Gold Mountain is not like Old China.

The chapter ends with a little celebration for the new baby, Jook-Liang, and for Kiam-Kim as well. He received many toys and ‘lucky money’. He walks over to his white friend’s house, Jack O’Conner, and gives him an envelope containing a couple coins.  Poh-Poh and the others soon find out about this and penalize Kiam-Kim for it. He goes to bed feeling ashamed. Soon after, Stepmother walks in and quietly slips a few coins in his hand. This shows that she is willing to accept some mistakes, unlike Poh-Poh. She is less strict as her. It isn’t as noticeable now, but further into the book I think the two women will contrast each other a lot, which could be positive or negative for Kiam-Kim. 

What I noticed quickly was the dialogue. The way Choy uses it enforces the fact that they are foreign with the broken English type dialogue. This helps characterization a bit and also helps me understand how different they may feel compared to the rest of the city. Choy sometimes mentions when they are speaking Cantonese or Toishanese. If he doesn’t then I assume they are speaking one of those languages unless he says something such as “In my best English possible, I say...” 

What I like so far is Choy adds the right amount of description where needed the most. He also puts some humour into the dialogue. It helps me figure out certain traits about characters, plus it makes it more interesting to read.

I quickly started reading chapter two of the novel this morning; not so much that I couldn’t wait to continue reading it, but more-so the result of my dad’s slightly annoying friend being at my house who I didn’t really want to have to converse with;  I stayed in my room and read a few pages until he left instead. At least I was being productive. 

Anyway, I’m not absolutely in love with the novel but I also don’t dislike it either. I have a feeling Kiam-Kim will change the most throughout the novel because he is a new generation of the family. Not everything can stay the same, especially when you move to a place on the other side of the world. As of now I am content with my book choice and hopefully I can still say that when I blog again.